Crossing the Bridge Washed Out

Sunday the weather was amazing and I was so excited about finally being able to get on the road with my skateboard and do some serious miles. After church, a good lunch, and a few chores in the yard I got my gear together and set off on a 26 mile push through West and North Iredell. Training for the Surf2TheSurf long distance skateboarding trip across North Carolina planned for June to raise awareness of brain injury and money for Hinds Feet Farm’s day programs has been hampered greatly by this winter’s weather. Needless to say I was stoked to see temperatures in the high 50’s and low 60’s, sunshine, and dry roads! It was ON and I was bound and determined to test my fitness level to get a picture of where I stood. I had a chance on Saturday afternoon to go out and push for 14 miles on one of my normal training loops and had felt fairly good so the idea of stepping it up and deliberately choosing a route that had some big climbs and some long false flat sections was motivating. The term “false flat” comes from cycling and means a section of road that appears to be level or even slightly downhill but actually is up hill. The longer you are on a false flat the more it burns and knowing that I will see quite a bit of that type of terrain when I hit Leg 3 from Apex to Wilmington I knew Scotts Creek Road needed to be part of my training.

I headed away from the house in my normal path out of town and found myself locking into a fairly good rhythm. Traversing through the neighborhoods at the top of Race Street, Hedrick Drive, then out to Front Street, and a jaunt over to North Side Drive, I was feeling fine and my heart rate though high was in control. Everything felt like just another training day. The sport of long distance skateboarding for me has become a test of managing suffering. The more I can tolerate higher and higher levels of suffering the more I get out of it. I know, sick huh? I think all endurance related sports have this element as part of its key focal point and long distance skateboarding is no different.

My push was going well. The climb up Island Ford Road was hard, as usual, and my heart rate was high, but as the road leveled out heading toward West Iredell High School my recovery was again good. I was feeling the test of the climbs and passing them. By the time I made my turn north onto Old Mountain Road I had settled on a great pace and was in a zone. Old Mountain Road is one where concentration is critical because of the traffic and I felt like I was focused and rolling great. My friends Jason and Sherri had passed me somewhere and I learned later that Sherri had remarked that I looked like a man on a mission.

After several miles I came to my planned turn on to Miracle Farm Road, a fairly short rolling road that ends finally when it terminates at the bottom of a very steep hill where a small river flows through a beautiful little valley. The first downhill section is a favorite of mine because it has a good uphill after a fast section you can easily fly down. Then after another mile or so the descent to the river down that steep incline awaits. It’s a hard descent that requires a great deal of foot braking (literally putting your foot down on the pavement to slow you down) because of the bridge, stop sign, and ninety degree turn at the bottom. Still I felt in control on the board and was making my way through the section when I saw the first sign. “Road Closed 1500 Feet.” At first I was confused. How could that be? I mean I just came off of Old Mountain Road where I had been paying careful attention and I had not seen any warning of the road work. I continued forward. This time I surmised that the road must be just closed to local traffic only and I would not have any problems as I moved forward. Besides, if I was forced to turn back and re-route my push I was in a position to get caught out in the dark. By this time it was late afternoon and going forward with the route I only had about 10 miles to go to get home. Turning around would be over 16 miles back to the house and even at the pace I was traveling would have taken just a little less than 2 hours. At best I had an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes of daylight left.
In five-hundred feet was the next sign, “Road Closed 1000 Feet.” Again, I begin to rationalize that the road may be a bit rough but closed completely probably not. I continued on. Another five hundred and you guessed it “Road Closed 500 Feet.” At this point I stopped. This was the very steepest part of that descent and with the road’s potentially in bad condition just around the bend I dismounted my longboard and hung it through the straps of my backpack on my back. I begin the walk down the rest of the hill and as I turned the corner it became very apparent the reason for all the signs. The bridge that once stood at the bottom of the hill across a small river was gone. I blinked my eyes a bit as I stared at this incredibly large crane on my side of the river and what appeared to be the beginnings of a new bridge footing. Other than that, there was no sign of any way to cross. Again I began calculating the distance I would have to travel if I had to back track compared to the remaining daylight available and I knew I needed to figure out a way across. I could see the road I needed to be on. It was only a few hundred feet in front of me. I could clearly see my next turn and direction to travel to continue my training push home yet this deep ravine and small river stood in my way.

As I continued to walk toward the space that once was a bridge I began looking up and down the river to see if there was another way across. Surely there was a tree down, a foot bridge, or maybe even some rocks I could easily cross over. I did not see anything. All I could see was the huge ditch and a very deep fast moving stream of water swollen further by all the snow and rain we have had this winter. Right across the gap was my safe route home but regardless of how close getting across the river had to be accomplished before I could continue on my way.

When I reached the end of the road I walked up to the edge beside the crane. The water had been damned on the side and the river was now very narrow at the point but was moving very fast. As strong of a swimmer I am the idea of falling in that with a Camelbak backpack and a 42 inch skateboard strapped across my back was not appealing in the least so attempting to wade the creek was not part of the plan. I suspected that water was cold and hypothermia and skating wet another 10 miles or so was not a thrilling prospect either. I began to search the bank for something I could lay across but could not find anything and I just stood there a moment staring at the water obstacle in front of me, the road on the other side of the bank I needed to be on, and just for a moment seemed stuck. Going back would surely take me on a dark road home. Even though I had been alert I missed the signs on the previous road warning of the closing that could have encouraged me to alter my route. Once I was confronted with the “closed” signs it was too late. I was all in. Focusing on the raging water in front of me I just simply stood there.

Then, for some reason I looked to the right and out of the corner of my eye I saw a small one foot wide make shift footbridge that the construction workers building the bridge must have fashioned. Here I was standing looking straight ahead where the large bridge once stood and all I could think about was getting across at that very point when an alternative was simply a detour of a few feet. I began to laugh at the combination of my stupidity and the fact that for the first time in my long distance skateboarding career I was about to go hiking.

I made my way down the big rocks that the crew had put in place to stabilize the bank of the river which had been severely damaged by the very floods that must have taken the old bridge down. It was a bit slick but I was able to make it to the footbridge which was a great deal narrower than it even looked from above. The water was moving very swiftly underneath and I knew that falling in was not an option. I had my phone in my hand as I stepped slowly out on the one foot wide board. My thoughts were that I began to totter I would toss it to the bank across so that it would not get submerged and destroyed by going in the water with me. I figured I would be able to crawl out and at least call for someone to come pick me up or at least allow it to be used to help find the body. (Its funny how thoughts like that go through your mind). You see I use a program called Map My Tracks (www.mapmytracks.com) that uses the GPS of my phone to map my progress when I am out training so that if something happens my family can have someone come find me.

Crossing the shaky footbridge was a bit of a challenge but I made it fine. I knew if I fell to the left I had the risk of hitting my head on the board so I kept telling myself if you fall, fall right. It was narrow and yes it was not easy but it was still what I needed to do to get back on the path home. I climbed up the bank, stomped the dirt off of my shoes a bit, and began the push up the road on my board the whole time laughing and grinning about the crossing of the bridge washed out. In ten miles I was back at home.

As I was telling this story Monday morning to a friend of mine my friend said “You know there’s a message in that story?”

At first I did not see it but as I thought about it I agreed. Life is often times so much like that training push. It starts out with a great deal of hope and excitement. Yes, there is suffering that comes along the way like the big climbs or the “false flat” but for the most part as people we seem to move through it. We continue on with our life focused on what we want, the path we have chosen for ourselves, and oblivious to the signs that tell us that there is a detour coming up the road. Because we seem to suffer some but can handle it we begin to get this feeling of what I call false self awareness where we think we can pretty much handle anything. Don’t get me wrong. I do think God has created us to be a confident people but how often do we actually find ourselves all of a sudden standing at the end of the road staring at a bridge that has been washed away before we could cross it? Somehow along the route we have focused on a direction we have planned and when we do see a “road closed sign” we miss it, ignore it, or simply just do not believe it. We also often find ourselves looking at the direction from whence we came to this point and find that darkness waits if we try to retrace our steps. We are standing at the edge of a bridge no longer there but the prize, that road ultimately home, is just across the way. It is that road to life that is right there almost under our feet yet for some reason there is a chasm between us and it. Along the route we had even experienced times of false flat where we thought we were cruising down hill when in all actuality we were laboring to move forward. Once we arrive at the barrier impeding us we look straight ahead at it, just as I did looking across the ravine, singly focused on the space where once the bridge stood. Because of the long road to get to this point it is hard for us to look anywhere but in the direction we have been pushing when all along by simply diverting off of that path and looking for an answer we can find that small narrow footbridge off to the right. Yes, that path may seem hard but it is not as hard as the suffering that brought us to that point. That bridge might be narrow but it is not filled with near the dangers that that big open road of our own choosing was behind us. And the way home once we have crossed is solid under our feet. Turning back from this point leads ultimately to darkness but in front of us is enough light to keep us safe.

In Matthew Chapter 7 verse 14 it says “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life…”

So, what is standing in your way from crossing over the footbridge that ultimately leads you home? What signs did you see but ignored that told you that you might be heading in the wrong direction? Is it possible that maybe you are so okay with your sufferings at the moment that you do not realize that there is something better or have you reached that space where a bridge once stood and decided rather to risk it any further you would just turn around and head back into the darkness?

Several years ago I wrote a bit of free verse that compared life to climbing a mountain. In it I noted how we as humans are apt to cling to a place along the way that is familiar even if it is painful because we fear the unknown more than familiar pain. What narrow footbridge seems to be more frightful to you than returning to the familiar suffering of the route that brought you this far?

God has a plan for your life. He does give you free will to choose that plan or stick with your own direction. Because He loves you he has laid down a footbridge through His Son Jesus Christ that will put you ultimately on the path to His love and faithfulness. Yes, it may be a narrow one but the end is so worth it.

So, what’s keeping you from crossing that bridge that is washed out in your life?

Turning A Situation Around-Notes from the Road with The Follow Me Tour

Last week's Follow Me Tour stop in Kingsport, Tennessee turned out amazing even though it started out very rocky and crazy.  It was just Pete and I taking this one and when we pulled into the parking lot of this Christian teen club Pete made a joke saying "I hope they know we are coming."  It had been booked out about 2 months ago.  Sure enough we walk in and the lady that runs the place has this look on her face that said "I forgot"!    She was a bit rattled because they had also over-booked the number of bands for the night and was really stressed out.   At first she was really skeptical about us and started quizzing us about what our ministry was about.  She asked exactly that and I answered "It's about Jesus."   Her next question was "How do you feel about gays because we may have some people here in that lifestyle?"  My response was that though I don't personally support that lifestyle that Jesus says we are to love everyone, share our faith with everyone, not be judgmental, and share His love and redemption. 

Then she said that she would see how the night goes and that we maybe would be able to speak but she wasn't sure.  I think she was taken aback when both Pete and I said that it was no problem and that we would just hang out, be around the teens and young adults, and just be a part of the evening however it worked out.  She then asked me to be the MC to open with prayer and introduce the bands.   As the night got started one of the band members came back to where she was at the concession stand asking if they could get some water for the group.  She told them that she used to provide water but needed to sell it to them now because of budget cuts.  He was great about it and went back to his merchandise table to get some cash.  I quickly added up the members of all the bands in my head, pulled out a $20 and paid for the water (a dollar a bottle of something she could have purchased at Wal-Mart for $2.50 a case).   I think that was the act that completely turned the situation around because after the first band she came up to me and asked if we would do the message between the third band and fourth. 

When it was time for the Blue Collar Preachers to take stage I think the message went well.  God put it on my heart to talk about how we face adversity in this life but how through his grace and love we have the hope of eternal life with Him.  (1^st Peter Chapter 1)  The crowd was a pretty rough disenfranchised group of youth from the Kingsport area (read:Emo) and I hope it hit home with them.  I talked about how God is with us throughout every day's walk and just continues to pour his love on us even when we don't seem to want it. Pete focused on how God can do amazing things in our lives even when we are challenged by life itself.

A lady who was there who was the mother of one of the band members of the first band that played (it was there very first performance) came up to me later and handed me something.  She said that God had put it on her heart before she left the house to give it to someone at the place and after hearing the message and learning that the Follow Me Tour had no funding, no base church, or anything, that she knew it was for us.  I just stuck it in my pocket and didn't even look at it.

Pete had just rented the space where the Victor Ministry was (the place we saw Jay Bakker) for a Sunday afternoon Bible Study/Outreach/Office for his ministry and a home base for the Follow Me Tour that morning.  I reached in my pocket and said "Well, here's some money to start your fund for "The Gathering" (the name he's given it).  When I looked down I realized that what I had thought might be a twenty was a HUNDRED!!!!  It was crazy man…this woman had shared with us how her son had never gone to church, how her ex-husband had been abusive and was in prison, and how now God was working in their lives and that playing in a Christian rock band had saved him.  What a witness!!! 

We could have gotten upset and angry driving 190 miles to a place to find out that we were not part of the program. We could have allowed our egos to step in and destroy what turned out to be a blessing. Somehow, as we have learned throughout the Follow Me Tour run since June of this year, by simply following Him where ever He leads us something good will always come out of that followership.

What Are You?

During a long distance push yesterday afternoon as a recovery from Saturday’s 60 mile monster I passed a lady in her yard who was struggling with large bags of top soil in the back of her pick up. She was a slightly built lady who appeared to be in her late 60’s but never the less was muscling these 50 lb bags by hugging them and slowly walking to the flower bed she where she was placing them. As I road past I remembered what George (Franco-Pastor of Operations at the Cove Church) had talked about in his message that morning about “who is our neighbor” and how we as Christ followers are called to help others.

After I had gone about 50 feet down the road God placed it on my heart to turn around and go back and offer help. There were at least 7 bags I noticed still in the bed of the truck and it was looking like it was about to rain. I turned around and skated back up to where she was and asked if I could be any help. Picture in your mind how I looked: Black Adidas shorts, red New Balance running shirt, red and black CamelBak backpack, mountain bike helmet (it’s not as hot as a skateboard helmet), Tifosi sport sunglasses, already covered in sweat, and riding a really big skateboard.

The lady at first naturally was taken aback. The look she gave me has now become a very familiar one since being bolder about stopping and praying for people on some of my skating trips. It reminded me of the poll we had taken in church that morning that said that the majority of us did not stop and offer help to people that we did not know because of fear. This was that look of cautious fear but because of the heat and the fact that there were actually eight more bags to unload she welcomed every so reluctantly the help.

It took me all of two minutes to unload the bags. Being somewhat tall and having a pretty good frame I was able to reach in the bed and grab the bags one in each hand and haul them over to the flower bed across the yard. The whole time I could tell the woman was just trying to figure out what I was going to ask for in return or what was next. When I got finished I thanked her for letting me help and again she just looked at me trying to figure me out.

Then it happened. She blurted out “What are you?”

At first I could not figure out what she was asking. A long distance skateboarder? A neighbor? Another weirdo who is about to ask for money?

I had to ask her to repeat the question.

“What are you? A policeman?” She said.

I was still lost to what she was trying to determine but then it hit me. Maybe I looked like a bike cop…except on a skateboard? Hmm. I was still confused.

Finally God gave me a answer and it was directly from George’s message about how Christians are perceived in a poor light.

“I am a Christian” I said.

She just stood silent staring at me and I repeated myself. “I am Christian and that is why I stopped to help. That is what Christ Followers are supposed to be doing.”

A smile, the first one of the whole exchange, spread across this lady’s face and I could tell that it was as much a huge release of her fear as it was thankfulness.

Before I left I asked her if I could pray for her and I did. I prayed that she gets her garden done before the rain came, that she be blessed by God’s great love and grace, and that she have a great rest of the day.

After I got up the road a mile or so the question she kept asking was just ringing in my head.

“What are you?” It was not “Who are you?” or “Why are you stopping?” or “Where do you live”?

No. Her simple question was the most complex one she could have every asked anyone.

“What are you?” cuts right to the core of our being as Christ Followers. Answering that question should be a foregone conclusion if we are truly living up to what we confess to be but unfortunately that does not always show through. As I have quoted before there is a song by Warren Barfield, an awesome contemporary Christian singer/songwriter from Eastern North Carolina who now lives in Nashville, called “Mistaken”. The line from the song that has always jumped out at me is “I shouldn’t have to tell you who I am. Because who I am should be speaking for itself.”

Maybe that line needs to be “Because WHAT I am should be speaking for itself.”

Our actions, our words, our deeds, and our whole demeanor should be answering the question “What Are You?” on a daily basis. Yet, as George discussed in his message yesterday as Christians we fail as a group to convey that answer in that manner.

So how do we then put into action what is asked of us? How do we answer the question of what we are?

John 13:35 helps give us a first step. As disciples and followers of Him we must love one another:
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”

Jesus then adds even more clarity to how we should answer our identity question:

Mark 12:30-31 (New International Version)
30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]There is no commandment greater than these."
You see by following what Jesus says will ensure the inheritance of eternal life with Him it is love that defines us. Love for God and love for our neighbor should shout the answer to the question.

“What are you?” Do your actions reinforce the distrust of Christianity today or are your actions speaking for what you profess to be? Does your LOVE scream out Jesus?

I for one want nothing more than to break the stereotype of the Christian who is seen as closed minded, hypocritical, and insensitive. In my life I have been guilty of all three with a special emphasis on being a hypocrite. For me supporting a mission in Central America with money was one thing but helping my “neighbor”, the lost or downtrodden right here in our own backyard has been lacking.

There are people in our surrounding community that need us as Christ Followers to just be there for them. There are homeless, people who have lost jobs, people who are dealing with illness or depression, the elderly, the poor, and those in crime ridden neighborhoods. There are also people who seem to have everything, money, nice cars, and large homes on the lake, but have something missing in their lives.

“What are you?” Let your actions answer that question. You see people do not need to know “who” you are. They just need to know “what” you are: A Christ follower who loves them.

The World

The World tells you that there is no god but that you are a god yourself.

The World tells you that you deserve everything you can get.

The World tells you that you there is nothing more than what you see right here.

The World tells you that life just happened and we are all animals fighting for our scraps.

The World gives you grief.
The World gives you pain.
The World gives you anguish.
The World gives you death.

So why don’t you turn away from the World and turn toward the Father? Don’t you want more than what the World can offer you?

Yes, the world gives you a million reasons to believe that God doesn't exist, that the Resurection didn't happen, that Jesus didn't come to earth and is not the Son. But what has the world done to convince you that you should believe in the world?

Open up your minds and open up your hearts to things this world will never offer. Hope, peace, love, and the promise of eternal life.

Try it. You may like it for eternity.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"

Prayer's Potential Impact on Heart Rate- Long Distance Skateboard Pushing

Yesterday I did a short training push of 12 miles around Statesville that took me in the last 3 miles to the bottom of Hospital Hill (Hartness Road at Iredell Memorial Hospital). I have been training on that hill for a while and have been noting my heart rate at the bottom and then again at the top to get a comparison of the increase in load that hill has on my cardiovascular system. I have been working on trying to manage my heart rate on that hill so that I don't get so far in the red zone that it basically shuts me down for the rest of the push. I have also been paying attention to my recovery from the peak heart rate as I continue on down to Stockton Street and up the hill at 1st Baptist. (I am making these same kind of mental notes on all the big hills I push regularly to assess my fitness based on recovery time, max heart rate, average heart rate etc.).

In yesterday's route I had already climbed a bit in my neighborhood on Race Street, up Hedrick Drive, up the frontage road that comes out behind Burger King on 90, and up Museum Road from the museum past the ball fields so I had some hills in my legs before hitting the bottom of Hartness. I had also averaged 9.5 mph for the entire push and had an average heart rate of 156 bpm to that point. When I hit the bottom my heart rate was at 145 bpm and when I reached the summit it was 183 bpm. (I had gone a bit too hard up the last 1/3 of that climb). As I crested the top I saw what appeared to be a patient from the hospital sitting on the wall at the sidewalk outside of the cancer center talking to 2 other people who I guess had been walking by. He didn't look like he was doing too good and had an IV catheter in his hand. I started to continue but that voice once again said I needed to go pray with the man.

I immediately turned around and pushed over to where he was and asked him if he was alright and if I could pray for him. He said he was ok but that this was the designated smoking area (there are no signs that indicate such). He agreed to let me pray and I did a very short and simple one asking for healing for whatever he was dealing with (I assumed cancer based on the way he looked and his location at the time) . The whole exchange lasted less than 4 minutes and as I rolled away I looked down at my heart rate and it had dropped all the way to 120 bmp! Thats a 63bpm drop. I am starting to get more fit now but still need to lose about 15 more lbs mininum. I was shocked at the huge drop so quickly. (Keep in mind for the last hour my heart rate had been at an average of 156 bmp for the entire hour). The only thing I could contribute it to was the fact that taking the time to pray calmed me down so much that my heart just slowed down more quickly than it normally would.

I am sure that there are a lot of factors involved and this one episode is not a scientific study on the effect of prayer on heart rate but as I push more I am going to become more aware of it.

My point in sharing this story though is to encourage all of you to use prayer to calm the storm in your life, calm your heart rate down when you are jacked up over all the challenges you are facing, and calm your mind and heart so that you can find peace.

Pushing A Skateboard For God

Back in the latter part of winter I had decided to try out a new form of skateboarding called longboard pushing or long distance pushing. As the name suggests basically this somewhat “kooky fringe” sport consists of riding a longboard (the definition of a longboard is a skateboard of 36 inches or more typically that is set up primarily for carving or skating down hills) over distance propelling the board by alternately pushing with either foot when necessary on flat ground or going uphill. Having ridden skateboards since I was 12, ridden longboards a great deal over the last several years racing, and being a former road cyclist combined to make this form of skating somewhat natural to me.

It took me a little while to get use to pushing with my right foot (back foot) because all my skating life I had pushed with my front foot (or mongo as it is called in skateboarding). Once I got the hang of it though I quickly found myself wanting to longboard push a great deal. I found out through a friend in Atlanta about a paved bicycle trail called the Silver Comet (http://www.silvercometga.com/) in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga Trail (http://epic.jsu.edu/clt/) in Alabama that was close to 100 miles long and I decided I would set a goal to attempt to skate the entire distance over two days the weekend of July 3rd and July 4th.

I trained for two months on the roads around Statesville and in northern Iredell County starting out small with pushes of only a few miles and working my way up to 35 miles plus. It was a great experience and through the process I started getting motivated about the attempt at the Alabama/Georgia trail.

When the time came I traveled to Atlanta on Thursday, July 2nd and stayed with my nephew Rich. The next day he drove me over to Anniston, Alabama early in the morning and dropped me off with my board, backpack, and gear and I started my push back toward Atlanta. I embarked on what I thought was going to be a journey focused on me accomplishing something other than a business deal, a completion of a building project, or surviving the extended economic turndown we have been facing. I had learned in doing my planning for the trip that no one had ever skateboarded the entire length of the trail so I was stoked to have the opportunity to be the first. It was going to be a small accomplishment that I could put in my memory bank and also a chance to get a break from all of the stress of this past year.

All of that changed just a few miles down the path. The weather was perfect, the trail was beautiful, and I found myself alone and talking with God thanking Him for the trip. Not very far up the route I saw an older couple out for a morning walk. It was early around 8:15 am and it seemed to me that this was their daily routine. As I approached them it hit me that this event, this achievement I was hoping to accomplish was not meant to be about me. You see over the last year God has been challenging me to step out of my comfort zone and be bold about my faith no matter what the circumstances. (See blog> “"Storming The Walls of The Comfort Zone- A Prayer Warrior Unleashed")
I have found it more and more natural to pray for perfect strangers that I meet in every day life or while out skating and as soon as I saw this couple that familiar voice in my head said “You need to pray with these people”.

When I rolled up to them from behind I got a very startled look from them both because they were obviously expecting a cyclist. By the time I finished the two day journey this look became very familiar. We exchanged the normal “good mornings” and then the man asked me how far I was “going on that thing”. I told him I had just left the trailhead and was skating to Atlanta. The look on his face also became familiar as the two days went on. It was sort of a combination of astonishment and “dude, you are a crazy person”. As he was recovering I told him that God also wanted me to pray with as many people as I could as I traveled along the way and asked him if I could pray for he and his wife.

At first he hesitated but then said ok and I began to pray. I prayed that God would bless their walk, their family, keep them safe, and keep the ever mindful of the gift that he so freely gave of his Son that brings an abundant and eternal life. That prayer became the backbone of prayers I would go on to say with over 30 people over the next two days.

I had the opportunity to pray with several national guard members who were taking their PT on the trail around Jacksonville, Alabama in anticipation of being deployed. I was able to pray with multiple cyclists along the way ranging in ages of 20 to in their 60’s.
I was blessed to have a father bring his two daughters out to meet me on the trail and ride their bikes along with me for 5 miles outside of Piedmont, AL and we both prayed for each other and each other’s families.

I also had the chance to pray with an awesome man named Alvin Davis who is in his early 60’s and rides the trail everyday around Cedartown, Ga . He road his bike along side me the first six miles of the second day and showed me a great bit of southern hospitality.

When stopping in Rockmart, Georgia at a coffee shop I prayed for the young couple who had just moved back to their hometown to open this shop. They were in hopes of being in a better place to raise their small child who was playing in a make-shift playpen in the back of the store.

The list went on and on and each experience was both fulfilling and humbling at the same time. God kept introducing me to different opportunities to show His love and grace and it was a blessing to be a part of each one. He even introduced me to other people who were Christ Followers that I have now become contacts with and we are looking forward to staying in touch and seeing what God does in each other’s lives. Over 30 people allowed me the opportunity to share with them a prayer and only two people, a couple, asked that I not (another blog in the making).

God took the opportunity to take what was meant to be a “selfish act” of accomplishing something for myself and turn it in to something to give Him glory. He took this time I had for myself and not only became an integral part of it but rolled along with me every push of the way.

How can something you are doing for yourself be transformed into being focused on Him?

Where is it, work, school, home, in the community, your hobbies, or elsewhere that including God could make a big difference in someone else’s life and your own?

He’s already given you what you need to do just that very thing. In everyday life God is opening the door for you to share his love. All you need to do is to turn the focus from yourself and make it about His glory. What starts out in your mind to be one thing will turn into something far greater than you imagined or expected.

Hebrews 13:20-21
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever." Amen”

What Does Jesus See When He Looks At Us?

I have been blessed over the years to have been able to do some pretty cool things and be around some incredibly cool people. As a teenager rather than playing baseball or football like most of the boys my age all I wanted to do was skateboard and ride bicycles.

I got my first “real” skateboard when I was 12 and immediately fell in love with it. I would skate for hours everyday practicing all the tricks and style coming out of California that I saw in Skateboarder magazine. I went to my first skateboard competition when I was 13 and after that it was ON! For me skating was this huge act of self expression and the whole surf/skate culture spoke to me like nothing I had experienced up to that point.

Skateboarding introduced me to other skaters from around the Charlotte and Concord area and I got plugged into an emerging East Coast skate scene. Immediately my circle of influence became primarily older guys who liked me, I think, because I always went big ever time I got on the board…even if it meant a trip to the hospital or skin left on the pavement. I earned their respect by never backing off….Once I even tried riding a skateboard out of the back of a moving van in the McDonald’s parking lot on a Friday night……that didn’t turn out too good….But I was legend after that!

The team of skaters I was a part of was the best around and when we went to competitions or rolled into a new town to skate everyone knew us. Younger skaters wanted to be like us and I can remember one in particular that would try to emulate everything I did, how I dressed, what kind of board I road, and my style. To that kid I was the man!

As adult I moved away from skateboarding in the 80’s and got deep into the world of mountain biking. Once again I was drawn to some great guys and though I wasn’t as good a mountain biker as I had been a skater I got to be part of some great groups. Through the sport I became interested in trail building and became a national volunteer for the International Mountain Biking Association leading trail projects in multiple states. I also gained a reputation for being able to survive spectacular crashes. I am not sure it is a good thing to be known for that fact but that was who I was in the sport. Once after riding off of a 30 ft drop and crashing through the top of a pine tree in the dark…yes, we were riding at night with lights...one of the riders who was out with us for the first time who witnessed the crash asked my regular riding partner, “Dude, is he alright?”

As I was climbing up the side of the hill dragging what was left of my bike behind me I could hear his answer, “Oh man, he does that all the time.”

After being forced to leave the sport in 1999 because of a serious neck injury I needed something to fuel my need for speed. I started skateboarding again and by 2003 was being drawn back into my first love, but this time through skateboard racing and longboarding. By 2005 I was competing again and getting connected with the top skaters in that part of sport from all over the world. I poured the same amount of energy I did when I was younger into skating except with an older person’s body. I was able to get sponsorship, compete at high level, and skate with the coolest people in the sport. Through my local skate group I got involved in putting on skateboard racing events one of which was the 2007 World Championships. Again, in the sport, I was pretty cool, huh?

But now I want to tell you about someone else I knew. As I am describing him I want you to start forming a picture in your mind of this person. Create a mental image of what you think this person was like.

First, his hair was not in style. Matter of fact, it was somewhat unkempt, and almost was like a chronic bed head. I am not talking about the style now that people pay good money to look like they don’t comb their hair…this guy just didn’t comb his hair. It was a curly mess.

Let’s talk about his clothes. Man, his clothes. They were never in style. When all of the other teenagers in the area were dressed in Izod and the latest preppy fashion he dressed almost as if he was from a foreign country…….a poor foreign country.

He also was in marching band. Marching band was cool if you were a trumpet player or better yet on the drum line, but this dude played the baritone saxophone. Who knows what a baritone sax is? That is that really big saxophone that is about the size of a small person. The band member playing the bari sax was almost always put out on the end of the formation for some reason. Come on man.

Are you starting to get a picture now?

Band Geek!

This guy was also in the Drama Club. He had roles in plays like the Sound of Music and Oklahoma. He was so into drama he even did summer theater playing roles like Bert from Mary Poppins, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and the Candy Man from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! The Candy Man? Are you kidding me?

Can’t you just see him? I can. Dude. (shaking my head)

While we are talking, we should mention that this guy was also smart. I’m talking bookworm smart. He was top 20 in his graduating class, a class that turned out four or five doctors, PhD’s, lawyers, and you name it. Between his GPA and his SAT score he got a full ride academic scholarship. He didn’t get invited to parties too much but everyone wanted him in their study group.

What a Nerd. I can even remember this was the first kid I knew with a digital watch…he got a digital watch in the 7th grade! It was an LCD watch not LED like today. You had to push a button on the side to see the time and that is all it gave…the time!! No stopwatch, no heart rate monitor, no day/date….just the time. His family was poor and it was the only Christmas present he got that year. If he were a student today he probably would be destined to work at Microsoft or be writing computer code for Doom 5.

He even road the bus to school…..when he was a Senior! What a loser!

This kid also had a really dark side. If there had been such a thing as Emo back then this guy would have been the poster child. He wrote punk rock songs that reflected the teenage angst that was raging inside of him. One of the songs was called Battery Acid.

The chorus went “Just give me some acid and I’ll fly away, life’s a mess that’s a what I say, Battery Acid…takes care of me…Battery Acid, it sets me free.” This dude was messed up.

He also wrote a song called “Death Wish” that was just as the title suggest…except it was about him and his two best friends and how they wanted to die.

“This is a story about 3 friends. They all know how they want it to end. They all know how they want to go. Two up high and one down low.”

What was with that? Wierdo.

Can you see this guy? Can you get a picture of what this guy is about? Can’t you just see him?

Yes. You can. You see, you are looking at him in this blog.

That was me when I was in high school.

You have to understand, skateboarding, in the a 70’s was a fringe sport that attracted loners and teenagers that didn’t feel they fit in with the mainstream.

That was me the drama geek that found being on stage was better than real life because when I was up there I was the character and not me. Can’t you just see me doing the part of Will in Oklahoma…..”I went to Kansas City on a Friday, by Saturday I learned a thing or two. Cause up to then I didn’t have an i-de of what the modern world was coming too. I counted 20 gas buggies going by themselves almost every time I took a walk. Then I put my ear to a bell telephone and a strange women started in to talk….”

Talk about lame!

In my skateboard world or my drama world I was cool. I was somebody. In the world that was my high school, I felt like a freak. Crazy huh?

But you know what? Jesus doesn’t care about all of that. Jesus doesn’t care if I am cool or a nerd. All Jesus cares about is my heart. He longs for me to follow Him. He sees past what I am wearing, what I do, how popular I am, or what sport I play. Jesus looks deep into my soul and wants nothing from me but everything. He wants that so much in fact that He willingly took on the form of a man and went to the cross for me. Jesus suffered and died for me, then defeated sin and death for me. He waled out of the tomb and kicked the doors of heaven wide open so a wretch like me could walk in someday.

He did that for all of you as well.

He wants all of us to be with Him no matter who we are, where we come from, or if we are cool or not.

Jesus proved this when He was on this earth. Jesus didn’t surround himself with the popular people, the cool people, and the leaders of the day. Who did he select as His closest friends?

Think about the Disciples. Man were they a mess or what? Talk about the most unlikely to succeed. They were nobodies who were definitely not part of the “in crowd” of the day.

Some were fishermen. I don’t know about you, but when I was in high school no one I knew said they wanted to be a fisherman. I am not talking about the sponsored by Bass Pro Shop driving a $100,000 boat with a 250 horsepower Evinrude motor fishing in the Bass Master Classic fisherman. I am talking hard working, on the ocean every day, pulling in heavy nets, and getting fish oil all over them so much that no matter how much they bathe they still smell like fish fishermen. I wouldn’t want to hang around anyone that smells like fish all the time. But what did Jesus see? He saw the men that would build his church.

In Matthew Chapter 4. 19 Jesus said “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Or better yet, consider Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector. Let me put that in perspective for you. Matthew was not like a government employee who works for the Internal Revenue Service that collects taxes through the mail. No. Tax collectors during that time were independent contractors for the Roman Government.

Imagine that your next door neighbor was a tax collector like Matthew and that every week, every month, every quarter, and every year, he came over and knocked on your door to collect the taxes. Then imagine that the taxes you are paying are to a government of a country that you are not even a citizen of and neither is your neighbor. Now, to add insult to injury, picture your neighbor putting part of the money in one pocket for the government and part of it in the other for himself. Not sure about you but I would have a hard time loving my neighbor if that were the situation.

Tax collectors were despised by the Jews because they saw them as collaborating with the enemy and not being much better than a thieves. Even the Romans who used tax collectors like Matthew held them in disregard because of the unsavory way they went about their job.

But what did Jesus see in Matthew? He looked past his profession. He looked past how despised and hated he was by those Jesus would ultimately use Matthew to reach. He saw a man that would follow Him completely and would go on to write arguably the most complete record of His ministry. Jesus saw through to Matthew’s heart.

So what does Jesus see when He looks at you? What does He know about you by seeing inside of your heart and soul?

At one point in my life my hope, other than ultimately ending up in heaven myself and my family being there as well, was to make the difference in one person’s life so that they do too. How cool would it to be in heaven some day and have someone come up to me and say “Remember when you shared with me what Jesus was doing in your life when we were down on earth? Well, that got me thinking and I decided I wanted what you had so I asked Jesus into my heart. Now I am here!” That would be incredible.

My dream has changed now though. Instead of just one person I want Jesus to use me to help as many people as possible to see Him and ultimately end up in heaven. I want everyone that is reading this now to be there. I want people to not see me as cool or a nerd, a skater, a business person, or a tattooed dude with a shaved head. No, the thing I want them to see is Jesus in me. What I want them to take away is that God is real, that He is Love, and that by following Him, everlasting life is there’s to be had. Someday everyone of us can be in heaven together. Every single one of us can stand in His presence . All we have to do is to accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior and follow Him. Talk about being the cool kids? Everyone in heaven is the absolute coolest!

Jesus sees you for who you are inside your heart. He loves you no matter what and as I said before longs to spend eternity with you. He also longs for you to allow Him to work through you so that others turn to him as well. No matter where you come from, no matter what you are like, once He is inside of you and you become a Jesus Follower, what people will ultimately see will be Him.

Warren Barfield, the contemporary Christian singer/songwriter from Eastern North Carolina, has a song called “Mistaken” which spoke to me so much the first time I heard it. The lyric that stood out the most was this “I shouldn’t have to tell you who I am, because who I am should be speaking for itself.”

You see, be it nerd or be it cool, who I am as a Jesus follower should be speaking for itself.

Let’s all let who we are speak for itself and lets all someday be together in Heaven. We can do it. We can secure that right this minute. All we have to do is shed our worldly selves and accept our new person in Jesus. Let’s all be cool. What do you say?